News

The first called session of the 83rd Texas Legislature ended on Tuesday, June 25th as the state Senate worked until midnight in an effort to complete the business set forth by the Governor for consideration. When Governor Perry issued the call of the special session in late May, the Legislature…

(Austin) -- This morning the United States Supreme Court handed down a long anticipated ruling in the case of Shelby County v. Holder. The opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled that Section 4 of the federal Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional, and that its preclearance provisions "sharply depart"…

Legislative Update While the regular session has come to an end, there is still work to be done in the legislature. At the conclusion of the 83rd legislative session, the Governor immediately convened a special session. We are also in the veto period, the 20 days following the regular session where…

Final Budget Sent to the Governor Despite our tendencies to file thousands of bills and resolutions, there is only one bill which the Constitution requires the Legislature to pass each legislative session: The Budget. On May 26th, the 139th day of the 140 day biennial session, the House and Senate…

State Representative Greg Bonnen Aids in Passage of Drug Test Requirement for Unemployment Benefits Bill (Austin) - On Tuesday afternoon the Texas House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 21 by a vote of 98 to 48. The bill requires drug screening or testing as a condition for the…

State Representative Greg Bonnen Applauds Unanimous Passage of Teacher Retirement System Reform Package (Austin) - On Friday afternoon the Texas House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1458 by a vote of 138 to 0. The bill makes substantive changes to the distribution of annuity payments and metrics by which…

Representative Greg Bonnen Votes to Defend Religious Liberty in Texas Public Schools AUSTIN, TEXAS - Last week, The Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 308 authored by Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R–Houston) to allow public school students to celebrate traditional winter celebrations, including Christmas and Hanukkah, without fear of…

The 83rd Legislative Session is quickly drawing to a close. We are constitutionally allotted 140 days each odd numbered year to pass legislation and a state budget. When the house adjourned last night, hundreds of house bills died due to legislative deadlines. The House will continue to pass…

The House of Representatives unanimously passed HB 29 earlier today, which requires our state's universities to offer a four-year fixed tuition plan to their students.The rising cost of tuition at our state's universities has been a growing cause of concern for Texas families, who often must rely on burdensome federal…

AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 13, The bill, authored by Rep. Bill Callegari (R - Katy), Chairman of the House Committee on Pensions, assigns new responsibilities to the State Pension Review Board (PRB) that are designed to increase the transparency of public pension…

AUSTIN, TEXAS (April 26, 2013) Today, The Texas House of Representatives passed legislation authored by Rep. Cindy Burkett (R – Sunnyvale) to make the practice of ballot harvesting illegal. Texas law currently allows a person to mail another person’s ballot as long as it is already sealed in an envelope…